Tekka Centre Reopens On 1 Oct With Fresh Coat Of Paint & Improved Drainage

Tekka Centre Reopens On 1 Oct After 3 Months Of Renovations

For three long months, residents and frequent visitors to Little India have missed Tekka Market and Food Centre, which is arguably the heart of the precinct.

That’s because the market closed for renovation on 3 July and was slated to open only in September.

Happily, Tekka Centre has now fully reopened for business with a new look.

Despite the upgrading, most stallholders there have said they won’t raise prices — for now.

Tekka Centre reopens in ceremony on 30 Sep

In a Facebook reel posted on Saturday (30 Sep), Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Alvin Tan was seen officiating the reopening of Tekka Centre in a ceremony complete with lion dancers.

As a gesture of appreciation, The Town Council hung a banner with the palm prints of some workers involved in the renovation, reported The Straits Times (ST).

Mr Tan, who is Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth, also put his palm print on it.

He said he was delighted at the reopening after so many teams put in so much effort to make it happen.

However, they’re “not quite done yet”, he said, adding,

We have a few surprises in store which we will complete in a few months to add to Tekka Centre.

Improvements include upgraded toilets & new tables, chairs & floor tiles

Some of the improvements include newly installed washbasins and upgraded toilets.

New tables and chairs have also been installed, along with new floor tiles.

The market’s facade and interior have been refreshed with a new coat of paint for a more pleasing environment. The ventilation system has also been enhanced, ST reported.

Additionally, the previously faulty drainage system has been repaired. Bird netting and anti-bird spikes were also fitted to solve the problem of bird droppings.

Crowd returns as Tekka Centre reopens with many stalls

On Sunday (1 Oct), the first day of Tekka Centre’s fully resumed operations, photos across social media showed that many of the stalls had already reopened for business.

The bustling crowd had also returned, glad to be able to eat there again.

A delighted netizen who visited that day said on Facebook that it was a “happy day” as people were glad to see each other after three months.

Though some hawkers didn’t have electricity and the carpark was “pitch dark”, he’s sure the glitches would be fixed, he added.

Stallholders won’t raise prices for the time being

As for the cooked food stallholders, most have no plans to raise their prices for the time being, reported Shin Min Daily News.

This is in view of the fact that many of their patrons are elderly.

Prices will stay the same despite the cost of most ingredients and raw materials having gone up by at least 10%, said many of the stalls that reopened on the first day.

However, they might consider a price increase next year due to the coming hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and water and electricity prices.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) had earlier said that they wouldn’t increase stalls’ rental after the renovations.

However, a drinks stall owner said he would increase all his prices by S$0.10. For example, tea and coffee would cost S$1.30, up from S$1.20.

He hoped his customers would understand and pointed out that his prices were still cheaper than the market rate.

Another stallholder, who runs a yong tau foo stall, said he plans to wait till next year to increase his prices by S$0.50 to cope with rising costs.

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Featured image adapted from Mika Abdul on Facebook and Alvin Tan on Facebook.